KC-46s Conduct First Operational Missions as Need for KC-10s, KC-135s Ramps Up Downrange

With KC-135s and KC-10s surging forward to help with the ongoing airlift out of Afghanistan, KC-46s are picking up some slack back home with the new tanker’s first operational taskings under Air Mobility Command’s plan to have the Pegasus start flying limited operations. KC-46s have flown three missions tasked by AMC’s Tanker and Airlift Control Center. During the first on Aug. 11, a KC-46 from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., refueled F/A-18s using the tanker’s centerline drogue system. The Super Hornets were from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112 at Fort Worth, Texas, according to an AMC release.